Picker



W. E. SEGL PICKER July 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed-April 26, 1945INVENTOR. 1409.476? 5. 666A BY W fimw ATTORNEY W. E. SEGL July 25, 1950PICKER 2 Sheets-Shegf. 2

Filed April 26, 1945 the picker, presents a number of problems.

-' Patented July 25, 1950 PICKER Walter E. Segl, Wilmington, DeL,assignor to Hercules Powder Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation ofDelaware Application April 26, 1945, Serial No. 590,493

This invention relates to a picker, and more particularly, to adevicefor picking a mass of fibrous material.

In the art of picking fibrous materials, such as cotton, wool,'hair,pulp, synthetic fibers, and the like, it is known to pass the materialthrough either horizontal or vertical drums of cylindrical or conicalshape provided internally with revolving beater arms, sometimes carryingmetallic teeth or with a revolving pickenroll provided with radiallyextending picker teeth or pins. There. are other pickers for fibrousmaterials comprising continuous belts provided with wire teeth whichmove across the discharge end of a continuous conveyer carrying thefibrous mass.

Pickers of the drum type provided with revolving picker rolls carryingextending picker teeth or pins, which are known to the art, have notbeen entirely satisfactory when used for picking damp, compact, purifiedcotton linters, to adapt the short fiber material for efiicient dryingin a suitable drying chamber. There are still other disadvantages of thedrum-type picker provided with conventional revolving beater armscarrying teeth secured to the ends of said beater arms, that are notinherent in the cylindrical rotor-type picker roll.

The picking of a mass of damp, purified cotton linters, still containingconsiderable water, for the purpose of opening it up so as to obtainperfectly uniform drying in a drying chamber, while at the same timemaintaining its high degree of purity without contamination withmaterial from The clearance between the picker pins or teeth of therotor and the drum housing must be small on account of the short lengthof the fibers; heavy and strong construction must be employed because ofthe high resistance to compression of the damp and compact mass of shortfibers; the small clearance between the ends of the picker teeth and thehousing, with the great resistance of the compact fibrous mass, requiresrigid securing of the pins to the rotor with no chance of beinggradually pulled out to strike the housing or any members interiorlyattached thereto while still being carried by the moving rotor;resistance of the compact masses of Camp linters to attrition betweenthe picker teeth and the other members of the device inevitably resultsin breakage of some of the pins which must be separated from thelinters.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improvedpicker for fibrous materials.

2 Claims. (CI. 19-80) Another object is to provide an efflcient pickerfor fibrous material of the character of damp and compact purifiedcotton linters.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novelfeatures and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

Generally described, the present invention comprises a horizontalcylindrical housing or shell of noncorrosive metallic construction,provided with end closures and two laterally disposed side openings.Interiorly of the housing there is provided a plurality of noncorrosivemetallic bars, longitudinally positioned and secured to the housing. A

picker roll of noncorrosive metallic construction is axially androtatably mounted concentrically within the housing, said roll beingprovided with a plurality of holes extending through its wall and havingheavy pins of noncorrosive, metallic, and magnetic material extendingthrough the holes. The heavy pins are countersunk in the interiorsurface of the wall of said roll and radially extend so that their freeends are in juxtaposition to the metallic bars as the picker rollrotates.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes ofillustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawingsforming a part of the specification wherein reference symbols refer tolike parts wherever they occur:

Fig. 1' is a fragmentary front elevational view of v a picker inaccordance with the invention with a part of the housing cut away toshow more clearly the picker roll;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line line 2-2 of Fig. 1,showing the construction of the picker roll; and v Fig. 3 is anenlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken through the shell ofthe picker r0 1.

In Fig; 1 and Fig. 2, a base support In is provided with end sectionsII. A longitudinal sheet of noncorrosive metallic material of concavecross section is supported by the base support In and sections I I toform the lower or bottom housing P2 of the picker. A plurality ofnoncorrosive metallic bars I4 is disposed longitudinally and internallyof the bottom of the housing l2 and is rigidly secured thereto. Anothersheet of noncorrosive metallic material of convex cross section issupported by the end sections II and is hingedly secured to a top memberl8 which, in

combination, forms the upper or top housing |5.

The bottom housing I2 and top housing l5 are in spaced relationship toone another so as to form the lateral openings IO and i1 forl gress andegress of material, respectively.

The shaft I9 is axially and concentrically disposed within the housingsl2 and II, is rotatably supported by suitable means, extends through theend sections ll and is provided with suitable driving means. The shaftl9 supports a plurality of spiders 20, each provided with a flangedouter rim 2| of true external diameter. An outer shell 22 of heavy gagenoncorrosive ,metallic material is drilled and countersunk as indicatedat 23 and carries a plurality of radially disposed teeth or pins 24 ofnoncorrosive, magnetic material. The teeth or pins 24 are of heavyconstructiom and are provided with beveled heads. These pins extendthrough the drilled holes 23 and are countersunk, as indicated, in theinner surface of the shell 22, with the face of the head of the pinflush with the inner surface of the shell 22 carrying the pin.

A heavy gage steel inner shell 25 is installed under the outer shell 22to hold the pins 24 in place. Both shells 22 and 25 are secured to thespiders 20 by the use of bolts 25 of noncorrosive metallic material. f

The inner shell is formed from a rectangular sheet of material curvedinto cylindrical form to substantially encompass the circular spiders.The outer shell is formed in a similar manner and, after drilling andcountersinking and fitting with the pins, the inner shell is installedinside the outer shell. The shells are then assembled over the spidersand rigidly secured to the spiders, and the outer shell is then weldedat the joint to niake a continuous cylinder.

In operation, the material to be pickedis fed to the picker by suitablemeans and enters the picker at opening is where it is caught by thepicker roll and moved downward and forward. The material is subjected topicking and opening by opposing actions of the rapidly moving pickerpins 24 and the stationary horizontal bars H. The picked fibrousmaterial is discharged at opening H to a suitable conveyor system.

In the embodiment of the invention repres'ented in the drawings, thepins or teeth 24 are positioned in a staggered manner on a line about 30from the direction of rotation and are grouped in a plurality oflongitudinal rows spaced between the rows of bolts 26 which secure theshells 22 and 25 to the spiders 20. The pins or teeth are ofchrome-steel alloy composition and are extremely hard, strong,noncorrosive, and magnetic. Teeth composed of metal having similarcharacteristics are suitable. Any convenient number of bars may be usedin the bottom of the housing; however, it has been found that from fiveto seven such bars, spaced so that the clearance between the pickerteeth and bars is approximately V -inch, give optimum results forpicking cotton linters. Other means for obtaining the projectionsafforded by the bars may be utilized.

The features of the picker of this invention over pickers heretoforeknown to the art for the purpose of picking or opening up a mass ofdamp, compacted cotton linters in a highly purified condition and at thesame time avoid contamination of the purified linters by contact withthe picker, reside in: an all metal construction, with all materials ofconstruction which contact the linters being of noncorrosive metal, ascontrasted with the part wood construction of the conventional pickersfor cotton fibers; the use of picker pins of noncorrosive magneticmaterial and of heavy construction; the method of securing the pickerpins in the picker roll by countersinking the pins in the inner surfaceof the supporting metallic shell and backing up this shell with ametallic inner shell.

The picker of this invention, comprising in combination the featuresindicated above and others already described in connection with theexplanation of the drawing, possesses a number of advantages overconventional pickers in dispersing compacted masses of damp, purifiedcotton linters for efiicient and uniform drying in a suitable hot-airdrying chamber. The use of a cylindrical picker roll of heavyconstruction contributes to more uniform operation due to its largeamount of inertia; the use of a picker roll of all metal constructioneliminates absorption of moisture, hence it remains in static anddynamic balance and operates free from vibration trouble; the use ofheavy, strong picker pins minimizes bending and breakage of said pinswhen operating against a compact mass of damp linters, which may attimes offer high compressive resistance; the method of securing thepicker teeth by countersinking in the inner surface oi the outer shelleliminates gradual pulling of the teeth from the picker roll andconsequent damage to the picker by striking the opposing longitudinalstationary bars attached to the housing while still held partially inthe roll; the use.of picker pins of magnetic material makes it easy toremove the broken pieces of pins, which inevitably result, from thepicked linters by the use of a magnetic separator; and the use ofnoncorrosive metallic material for all parts of the construction whichcontact the linters avoids contamination of the linters by corrosion, orby chipping ofl as is encountered where wood is used.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for picking a mass of damp, purified cotton linters toput it in suitable condition for eificient drying comprising incombination a closed horizontal cylindrical housing of noncorrosivemetallic construction, lateral side openings positioned along the lengthof said housing forming inlet and outlet passages for the material to betreated, a plurality of noncorrosive metallic bars disposedlongitudinally and internally of said housing and secured to the bottomthereof, and a picker roll axially and rotatably supportedconcentrically within said housing comprising a continuous one-piecenoncorrosive metallic outer shell provided with a plurality of spacedopenings having countersinks on their inner ends, a plurality ofmetallic picker pins of noncorrosive magnetic material extendingradially outward through said openings and' having their irmer endscountersunk therein, a metallic inner, shell secured against the innerside of said outer shell and holding the metallic pins securely in theouter shell, and a plurality of metallic members of equal and truediameters mounted on a common axis and supporting both the inner shelland the outer shell.

2. An apparatus of the character described in claim 1 comprising meansfor supporting the picker roll in spaced relation in the housing so thatthe clearance between the ends of the picker pins and saidlongitudinally disposed bars is approximately M; inch.

WALTER E. SEGL.

(References on following page) 5 6 v REFERENCES cum). mnmcn PATENTS Thefollowing feierences are of record in the Number 4 Country Date flle ofthis um: "4,737 Great Britain 1879 a 729 Great Brltaim 1887 UNITED 'r msTENTS Number PA Date 18,139- GreatBritam 1910 10,762 Leaviti Apr. 11,1854 Gummy 1929 166,824 Teal Aug. 17, 1875 OTHER REFERENCES 217,100Hardin: July 1879 Bulletih c-a, International Nickel 00., revised1,656,432 mum Jan. 1?, 1928 10 September 1,792,546 Noble Feb. 1'1. 19311,980,481 Gloyd Nov. 13. 1934

